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-L. MQMURRAY.

APPARATUS FOR PRESER-VING FRUIT.

Patented Jan. 26, 1886" WITNESSES NlTE dramas Parent tries.

LOUIS MOMURRAY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF Till-U513 FIFTHS TO EDGAR MALlN, ARTHUR W. LA'WTON, AND LOUIS S HOUGHTON, ALL OF SAME PLACE.

APPA-RA E MS FQIR PEEfiiERViNG FUiTSt SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334,967, dated January 26, 1886.

' v v Application filed July 9, 18%. Serial No. 137,273. (Nomodeh) To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,LOU1s McMti-RRAY, of the city of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatuses. for Keeping, Preserving, and Preparing Fruits and Vegetables for Transportation, of which the following is a clear description, illustrated by the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 shows an upright view of the ap-- ,paratus, showing the gastank and vacuumtank and a single pump by which the vacuum is induced and the gas forced to the transport ing-vessels. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the tube or pipe 2, to which the transporting-vessel is attached, showing the thread within the tubganu inc sold-meta; ipe pullllnull uablng with the transporting-vessel screwed into the tube. Fig. 3 is a view of the transportingvessel when packed and filled with preserving-gas under pressure, with the nippers 'attachcd for flattening the soft-metal pipe. Fig.

4 is a view of one of the transporting vessels packed and filled, with the soft-metal tube doubled and turned over and ready for transportation. Figs. 5 and 6 show different forms of the tube z, illustrating the mode by which the soft-metal tubes are attached thereto.

The object of my invention is to furnish a simple, practical, and rapid method of preparing fruit, vegetables, and other articles of food for transportation, so that they may be surrounded by a preserving-gas under high pressure practically without admixture of air therewith, and keptthereinwhilc being transported from place to place.

The general principle by which such arti cles of food are kept in sound condition by forcing gas into the vessels to expel the air and subjecting them to contact with a preserving-gas under high pressure is made the subject of a pending application filed June20, 1884.

By the present application I have made substantial improvements by which I exhaust all the air'from the vessels without wasting the gas, and subject thearticle of food to contact with the gas under high-pressure, avoid upright pipe provided with the cock 0.

practically any admixture of air therewith, and make a complete and simple'apparatus more effective in'its results, while reducing the cost of preparing the article of food to a mini- 13 by means of the pipe H. which pipe is provines W16; the .alve and the 001s a. The gaspressure tank I) is provided with the prcssuregage F, for ascertaining the pressure of gas in. the tank, whichis intended to be higher than required for preserving the food articles in order tosupply the gas atsufiicient pressure to the transporting-vessels. The pump B is connected-at its lower end to the two tanks A and D by suitable pipes. The one leading to the vacuum-tank A is provided with the cock b, and that leading to the press ure-tank D is provided with the cock 6, be

tween the pump B and the gas'pressure tank l). v The connecting-pipe is tapped by ashort At' the junctions of the two connecting-pipes with the pump I have placed the valves'saud t.

I is a pipe provided with the gages G and F. The pipe J joins the pipe I to the connecting-pipe between the pump and the vacuum-tank, and is provided with the cock f.

The pipe Kjoinsthe pipe I, Wll h he conncct- 1 ing-pipe between the pump and the pressure tank -D, and is provided with the cock 1". The pipe M connects the pipe I with the pressure tank D, and is provided with the cock 9. The pipe M is also connected with the bottom of the pump by a suitable pipe, which is pro, vided with the valve so and the cock h.

The short pip s i 'i t 2', attached to t pipe I, are made of hard metal, and are provided with a screwrthread cut inside or outside .to

' shoulder or collar, and a nut with a female.

screw is slipped over the tube and is provided with a. shoulder to rest upon the shoulder, of the tube. Between these shoulders a suitable gasket maybe placed to prevent leakage of air or gas when pressure is applied. JVhen} used in this form, the soft-metal tube of the portable vessel is placed against the end of the tube i, and the nut screwed upon ituntil v firmly pressed against the collar of the tube.

In Fig. 5 a thread is cut on the outside of the tube i, upon which is screwed the'nut. This nut is screwed upon the so ft-metal tube. Thescrewthread upon each of the tubes with the nut in place is suflicient to seal the joint tightly. If

the soft-metal tube is large enough, it maybe screwed upon the outside of the tube 1'. These tubes t are provided with the faucets P, to be opened and closed as circumstancesmay require.

' The transporting-vessels, as shown in Figs.

4and 5, I construct of tin orthin metal, and provide them with a top which may be sealed to the vessel by any of the known methods. To

*this top I have brazed or soldered a soft-metal tube, soft enough to be screwed into the'tubes or pipes z and remain secured thereto firmly. A lead tube will answer the purpose. This tube I have marked min the drawings.

The'operation of the apparatus is as follows: When the portable vessels N N are duly filled with the article of food to be kept, they are secured to the tubes i i, as before described.

The operator then opens the cocks a, b,and c, and .by working the pump exhausts the air from both of the tanks A and D, which enters the pump through the valve S and is expelled through the valvet and cock 0. The cocksa, b, and c are then closed, leaving a vacuum .in

' both tanks. The cocks-d and e arethen opened,

allowing the gas to be drawn from the'generator or receptacle E through the pipe H, valve 1; into the pump, and through the valve t and cock 6 into the gas-pressure tank D. The operator may now-work the pump and increase the pressure of gas in. the tank D to any desired gThere is HOW-'W'Ply of gas under press-"f point. The valves d and e are then closed.

ure in the tank D and avacuum in thetank A. The cocksb and f are then opened, exhausting the air from thevessels N N, which is drawn into the vacuum-tank A. u If the vacuum is insufficient, it may beincreased by closing the cock b, opening the cock 0, and working the pump until the gage cindicates thatthepressare is sufficient. The cockse andf are then closed, and the cock 9 in the pipe M opened carefully until'the vessels N N are filled with the gas at the desired pressure. If the pressure is not sufficient,close the cock 9 and open the cocks r and h. By working the pump the gas isdrawn from the pressure-tank through the valve X, and forced through the valve t and pipe k. to the transporting-vessels. Then close the cooks r and h. Compress the soft-metal tube and take the vessels ed, as before described.

To work the apparatus without the tanks, I begin, asbefore, with the cocks all closed and open the coeksf and 0, working the pump to" exhaust the air from the transporting-vessels N N. Then close the cooks f and c and open the cocks d-and 1'. By operating the pump the gases are drawn from'the generator vand forced direct through the pipe K to the vessels N. The cocks d and r should then be closedv and the transportingvessels sealed and taken off, as before described.

I am aware that the keeping of fruits, vegetables, &c., by surrounding them with a puri-- fying-gas has been attempted; but so far as I know all efforts in this direction have aimed to expel the air l'rom the food-containing vessels by allowing the gas entering the yessel to expel theair therefrom. In this way the air is not entirely expelled, but a large portion of it remains to mix with the gas, and at thesame time much of the gas is wasted, escaping with the air.

My invention, therefore, has for its object the exhaustion of the food-vessels before the gas is allowedto enter, and the vacuum thus created draws the gas into the vessel, where it remains in contact with the fruit, unmixed with air to any material extent. When the fruit is of a character which requires a high pressureof gas in contact with it, I have provided means for increasing this pressure. Thus it will be seen that the vacuum may be formed in the vessels by other mechanical and equivalent means well knownto persons skilled thereinsuch as the use of a condenser instead of a pump, for example. tank A might be supplied with steam until the air was forced out, and then by condensing the steam a vacuum would be formed,whieh might be used in the same way as the vacuum formed therein by the pump.

In the above specification and accompanying drawings Ihave described'and illustrated one practical form of using myprocess.

The advantages of the above method are many. By exhausting the air from the food articles to be kept in sound condition I avoid any admixture of gas and air, which must on- The vacuumta'in tea-greater or lessextent when the airisi' expelled by the entrance of the gas. I also dispense with the necessity'of putting a cock in the receptacle for the food to allow the air to escape, and avoid all waste of the gas, someof which must escape with the air as it is expelled by the gas. The air also surrounding the article of food which causes decay is drawn from the pores and interstices of the food, and

its place is supplied with a preserving and purifying gas, while the vacuum in the vessels assists in conducting the gas'therein,which,

with some articles of 006, mny be snfficiens 0f itself to induce enough pressure to the gas surrounding the food,

Having described my i'llVfillbiQll, Wh3l; I claim and desire 5:0- eeenre is- 1, In an apparatus forpreserving fruits and vegetables, file vaennmtank A and gas-pressure tank 3 connected by the pipe G, in e0n1- mention with 5116 pump '3, having the valves mind i, nenneeted together by suitable tubes and provider with the socks a, k), and c,

2. E an apparatus for preserving fruits and vegetz 3105,1111: pump 3, for inducing a van mum, in eembinatien with the vaenum ta-nk A,

- the pipes land I, the latner being previded with the nezzlee and having means for connecting and (liscennectgngtne same with file packing-vessels.

3. Inan apparatus ferpreserving fruits and vegetables, the gas-pressure tank D, vacuumv tank A, pump 13, and generator E, with their connections, in combination with the pipes J, M, and I.

41-. In an apparatus for preservingfruite and vegetable-l the pump B, in combination with lake vacuunmenk A, having suitable tnbnlar connections, the pipe 1, pz'evided with the 1102:- zles 2 the pipe 5, and the cocks b andf.

. LOU! MUMURRAY. Wiib'nesses: BERNARD A. ROGGE,

Tnos, KELL BRADFORD. 

